The Chosen
by kawaiidragonfoe821
Summary: Summery: An unfortunate misstep hurls Mulder & Scully into a strange universe that was only thought to exist in the words of legend & mythology. As always, please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I OWN nothing & CLAIM nothing!**

_Summery: An unfortunate misstep hurls Mulder into a strange universe that was only thought to exist in the words of legend & mythology. As always, please R&R._

"Mulder, where are you?" Scully's voice came over his digital two-way radio as they each combed a forest just south of the Canadian Rockies where there had been reports of Bigfoot sightings. "Err…" Mulder trailed off as he checked his compass, a useless effort since the magnetic properties of the mountains were interfering with his navigational equipment. "Would it worry you if I said that I don't know?" He replied. "It depends on how long you've ventured on without knowing." She replied. "Well… I don't really know how long it's been." On the other side of the forest, Scully let a sigh escape her as she put her hand exasperatedly to her forehead. _'What am I going to do with him?'_ She thought hopelessly. "Mulder, I'm going to send for help, stay…where…you…are." She said, speaking slowly & clearly, hoping her tone of voice would convince him to stay where he was. "Uh… sure." He replied as he cut their transmission, Scully shook her head as she dialed out on her satellite phone, he had no intention of staying put.

Scully's intuition had been right, Mulder didn't stay put, he continued to follow the trail of something very large through the forest, it was heading toward the foothills of the magnificent Canadian Rocky mountains. The massive footprints seemed to get older as he got closer to the foothills, but the trail itself was well-worn & was obviously used fairly often. His determination to uncover the truth lead him on & made him oblivious to the fact that it was going to be dark soon & the temperature was dropping. The forest yielded to the breathtaking sight of the foothills &, to Mulder's delight, a series of caves. Without Scully by his side, who so often served as his voice of reason & sensibility (fortunately for him, because he had very little himself) was not present, he plunged onward, not even bothering to entertain the fact that one of these caves might, in fact be home to bears or wolves.

Scully shielded her herself from the downdrafts as a rescue helicopter landed in a nearby clearing. "I'm sorry, Agent Scully, but it's getting dark, & I just can't risk sending my men out at this hour, not with the magnetic influence of this region. We're going to have to wait until first light to begin the search for your partner." The leader of the search & rescue team, a man by the name of Leonard Turner, a former naturalist & map charter said to her as he left her company to set up camp. Scully gave the tree line of the forest a final, worried look. The ancient peaks of the Rockies were just visible over the tops of the noble pines; standing tall & wise like gods & seeming to watch over all that moved beneath them. "Please, take care of him." Scully whispered to the forest. She quickly looked around, realizing she had uttered her thoughts out loud; thankfully, no one was around to hear.

Mulder sat up slowly & rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he mulled over the aches in his neck & back that sleeping on the cave's hard, uneven granite surface had rewarded him with. The sun was the next to wake, its first rays creeping in through the mouth of the cave, slowly illuminating the smooth granite walls in an unearthly orange hue. Mulder was surprised to discover that the interior of the cave was quite narrow & seemed to reach back pretty far, & so he did what no other sensible person would have done when they were lost in a vast Canadian forest; he sank to his hands & knees & began following the ever-narrowing tunnel.

"This is the location of our last transmission & that was around three in the afternoon, yesterday." Scully said to Turner. "It looks like he's started towards the foothills, no offense Agent Scully, but you're partner is an idiot." Turner said flatly. "I know it was a stupid thing for him to do, but when he gets his mind set on finding proof, nothing else matters, especially his personal safety." She replied, in Mulder's defense, but she knew that Turner was right. "Well, luckily for your partner, we've gotten a lot of rain in the few days before you arrived, so it should make tracking him a little easier."

After what seemed like an eternity of crawling on his hands & knees, the narrow tunnel of the cave finally opened enough for him to stand upright, a welcome change. He dug out his flashlight & looked around in awe; the walls of the cave were lined with quartz crystal that shimmered like diamonds when the beam of his flashlight passed over it. At the back of the cavern was an exquisite pool filled with a thick, shimmering silvery liquid. Perplexed, Mulder bent down to touch it, it was surprisingly thick & harder to permeate then he expected. "Scully's going to flip when she sees this." Mulder said to himself as he dug out a tube to take back a sample, to his surprise, the tube slid in easily. Suddenly, the world lurched & he was pitched forward, headlong into the pool.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I OWN nothing & CLAIM nothing!**

"Agent Scully, you should know there is a chance that we won't find your partner alive. It'll take us over a week search all of these & but the time we find him, it may be too late." Turner said as they came upon the catacomb of caves at the Rockies' foothills. "I appreciate your honesty, Mr. Turner, but I'm not giving up hope." Scully replied. "Okay, we'll all split off into teams of two & I want each of you carrying a satellite phone at all times!" Turner instructed as they broke off. "This is amazing!" Scully said as she panned her flashlight around one of the caves, the rock has a strange metallic sheen to it. "That's the zircon; these caves are fully of precious metals, that's why navigational equipment doesn't work around here. You should see it when the light from the full moon shines through in summer, it'll take your breath away." Turner said as they came upon several small tunnels at the back of the cave's mouth. "Don't bother with those, after about a mile, nothing larger then a fox can get through them." Turner said.

Mulder slowly sat up & gingerly rubbed the growing knot on his head, he looked around him, & found himself in the middle of a meadow of rippling, lavender grass; above him the sky was bluer then any he had every seen. "It's about time you got here." Mulder spun around on the grass & came face to face with a centaur. "E-excuse me?" Mulder stammered. "We've been expecting you, man. Now get on all ready, I don't have the time to let you sit around & gawk at me all day long." He said as he grabbed Mulder by the scruff of his neck & threw him onboard. "Hold on." He said as they were off.

Mulder was surprised to find a community that looked much like a nineteenth century mining community nestled in the valley of a magnificent snow-capped mountain range. "What did you expect, a castle with kings & knights & such?" The centaur said as he bowed to allow Mulder an easy dismount. "So, you've finally arrived & not a moment too soon." A woman said as she walked up to greet them, she wore a faded blue T-shirt that had _'I hear voices & they don't like you'_ captioned in bold white letters on the front & had an honest to goodness pegged leg, which was just visible under her baggy shorts "Thanks for bringing him, Toby." She said. "You owe me; the guy's a terrible rider." He said as he walked off. "Don't mind him, my name is Angie… we all know who _you_ are. We have been watching your world ever since the dinosaurs ruled it & they did a much better job." "I know, we're ruining our planet." Mulder said. "Ruining is an understatement, but that's another story." "So, where are all the cars?" Mulder asked as she led him down a path over the gentle, sloping hills of the valley to a simple stone cottage at the edge of the small town. "We have no use for such devices, we use alchemy here." She replied. "What, like turning lead into gold?" Mulder asked. "I could, but it's forbidden by our laws; imagine the chaos it would cause if everyone went around creating gold whenever they wanted?" Angie replied as she opened the heavy wooden door to the cottage for him.

Scully & Turner came upon an area where the cave branched off in two directions. "I guess I'll go this way." Scully said." "No need, the left side dead-ends into one of those fox-holes." "I still want to check it out." Scully said stubbornly ('fox' being the operative word in this case). "Okay, just keep your satellite phone handy." He called after her. The tunnel became smaller & smaller until Scully was forced wiggle through on her stomach, the tunnel was barely large enough for her petite frame & she doubted that Mulder's lanky physique could squirm its way through here, but now she was curious as to just what was on the other side of this tunnel. She suddenly withdrew her hand sharply, something had pricked it, it was an uneaten sunflower seed, & they must have leaked out of Mulder's pocket as he crawled. Scully wriggled through the last few feet of the narrow tunnel & found that it opened into a cavern about the size of their basement office. At the rear of the cavern was a pool of shimmering metallic liquid, being the scientist she was, she dug a collection tube out of her bag, she dipped it into the liquid & found the surface strangely hard to penetrate. Before she knew what was happening, the world lurched forward & she fell (or was pulled, she wasn't sure which) into the pool of liquid.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I OWN nothing & CLAIM nothing!**

Scully awoke & was startled to find the handsome, youngish face of a man leaning over her, she couldn't help but stare as he helped her to her feet standing before her was an honest to goodness centaur, a creature she had previously dismissed as a myth. "My name is Michael, now please, get on, we don't have much time." He said as he bowed before her, she clamored on awkwardly & they were off. "Ah, it seems that our other guest has arrived, wait here, please." Angie said to Mulder as she rose from the table. "Mulder…" Scully trailed off as they embraced one another. "Now that you're both here, we can start the training." Angie said. "Training?" Mulder said as they followed her. "Alchemy training." Angie replied.

"The first thing you must learn is the law of equivalent exchange, to create; something of equal value must be lost or given up. For example," She said as she presented Mulder's broken cell phone, placed it on the ground in front of her, clapped her hands together & closed her eyes. Mulder & Scully watched in awe as the phone repaired itself. "That's amazing!" Mulder said as he picked it up & looked it over. "It's got to be some kind of trick." Scully said as she looked it over as well. "No tricks, Miss Scully, alchemy is in a class all its own & not everyone can do it, but it is still governed by the laws of physics."

"Those who ignore the laws of physics & life, their bodies get taken to the other side." She said as she patted her pegged leg. "When I was ten, my sister was killed in an accident, I tried to… to bring her back with a forbidden form of alchemy called human transmutation & I lost my leg as a result. I'm lucky, most lose their lives." She said. "I have read that there is a kind of stone that allows one to bypass the laws of equivalent exchange, is that true?" "Ah yes, the philosopher's stone, but to bypass the laws of equivalent exchange, you first have to obey them one… last… time. A mass sacrifice is needed to conjure a philosopher's stone, only the truly evil or truly desperate ever attempt it." "You still haven't explained what we are doing here." Scully said. "You have been chosen to help us defend against a great evil that has descended upon our world, you must help us, & the survival of your world depends on it." Angie said.

"What do you think, Mulder?" Scully asked him later that night as he wallowed around in the wicker rocking chair next to her bed in Angie's spare bedroom. "I think we should do all we can to help, because I don't know about you, but I want to have a home to go home _to_." Mulder replied as he stood & stretched the kinks out of his muscles. "Look, I want to show you something." He said as he drew a transmutation circle on the table in front of a dead rose in a vase. Scully watched, astonished as he was returned to its former glory & beauty. "I did some studies in alchemy back in college, its weird, everything that I learned in our world works in this one." He said as he returned to his chair & pulled the blanket around his chin, Scully sighed as she moved to the edge of the bed & pulled the covers back. "Mulder, you're never going to get any sleep in that chair, why don't you share the bed with me." "But… it's barely big enough for you." "I'll manage." She replied.

Angie opened their door just before dawn the next morning & smiled at the sight that greeted her, Mulder & Scully were sleeping soundly in each other's arms. Scully head was against his shoulder, they looked so content. "Almost hate to wake them, eh Jack?" Angie said to a rather homely medium sized dog with a long, black shaggy coat. "Let's leave them." She said with a smile.

After weeks of intense training, both Mulder & Scully had progressed swimmingly. "I have to say, you two are the most gifted students that I have ever taught. I suppose that it helps when you've done some reading on the other side." Angie said. "We investigated a case that I thought had to do with alchemy a few years ago, I just never thought I'd get to use any of it." Mulder said. Suddenly, the sky began to darken & the people of the village screamed in terror as they took refuge inside their homes. "He has arrived." Angie whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I OWN nothing & CLAIM nothing!**

"Who has arrived?" Mulder asked "A great evil that has been imprisoned for many centuries, he ruled this land like a tyrant for many years before until, with the help of two like you, we were able to overthrow him. People are still afraid to utter his name, Cerberus to this day they're afraid that he'll come back. It's a lot of crap if you ask me, fearing a name because of the actions of the person behind it." Angie said as she rolled her eyes. "Fear is a strange disease." Mulder said. "Enough about that, there is one final journey that we have to make, there is an ancient power that has been long hidden away, the elders were afraid that Cerberus would somehow find it, if he were to get a hold of it, the universe could be in serious jeopardy. The reason the elders overthrew Cerberus was that he wanted to destroy the universe in order to start anew, he had it in his mind that the universe was flawed from the beginning & that the beings who inhabited it were failures of creation." "It's always nice to feel the love." Mulder interjected, Angie chuckled. "Now let's go, we don't have much time."

"When you mentioned that we'd be flying, I never expected this." Scully said as they sat on the back of a massive, green dragon that was roughly the size of a seven forty seven. "What did you expect? You have to start thinking outside the box, Miss Scully." Their transportation interjected. "Touché." Mulder said with a grin as he patted the dragon's thick, scaly hide, Scully rolled her eyes but said nothing. "It would have taken us a hell of a long time on foot; Emerald was nice enough to take us." "Not without payment, of course." Emerald said. "Of course, I wouldn't dream of forgetting." Angie said flatly as they began to descend through the clouds. "This is as far as I can take you, from here on is only assessable to travelers on foot." Emerald said as he spread his wings & took flight, Mulder, Scully & Angie shielded their faces from the whirlwind of dust & small pebbles that kicked up after the massive creature. "Don't mind him, he's kind of spiteful." Angie said as they carried on.

They three of them walked for what seemed like ages until Angie, who was leading the excursion, stopped abruptly. "We have arrived." She said dramatically, Mulder looked around him & saw nothing seemingly ordinary-looking foothills. "Not around you, below you." She said as she pointed to a plain cave, carved into the foothills of the mountains by years of water runoff during the rainy season. "You look disappointed, Mulder, what did you expect, a fancy, diamond-laden entryway?" Angie said dryly, Mulder laughed in spite of himself. "Yeah, to tell the truth." He said as they began their decent. "So what's in this place that the entrance must be hidden?" Scully asked. "It's not exactly hidden, that's just the way it was dug out when it was discovered by an alchemist/archeologist by the name of Dominick many, many years ago. There's no point in hiding it, every alchemist knows about it... especially Cerberus. But he can't access the power because even his alchemic powers alone aren't enough to release the spell that keeps them bound. That's why he's let us this far, he needs more power." She replied. "& what makes you think we'll be enough?" Scully interjected. "I don't, but it's worth a shot." Angie said as they came upon a stalagmite that was made of pure quartz crystal, taller then the Witches' Finger in Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. "What now?" Mulder said. "All you have to do is get close to it; if you're not the one, it'll let you know, trust me." Angie said as Mulder approached the towering stalagmite cautiously. He didn't even get within three feet of the structure before he was thrown back against the walls of the cave. "Told you." Angie said, Scully rushed over to him but as she passed the quartz stalagmite, it lit up so brightly that they all had to shield their eyes. "So… _she's_ the one." Angie said excitedly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I OWN nothing & CLAIM nothing!**

Scully could hear Mulder's voice calling her name, but it seemed so far away. & was eventually drowned out as the white light surrounded her & another voice entered her head. _"Dana… we have been waiting ten thousand years for you time is setting on our era as the protectors of this world. You must accept the power, or it will be released to roam freely over this world, doomed to fall into the hands of Cerberus. Now, you must be willing to accept the power & open your mind, are you willing to do this?"_ "Yes." Scully found herself answering without hesitation. _"Good… it shall begin."_ "What's going on? What's happening to her?!" Mulder shouted over the swirling wind as they took shelter behind a crevice in the wall. "The powers have chosen her to be their next protector, don't worry, she won't be harmed." Angie reassured him, he still looked on worriedly. "You love her, don't you?" She asked abruptly. "Yes." Mulder answered without hesitation as he looked at her, Angie smiled at his expression, & there was the twinkle of devotion & commitment in his greenish-hazel eyes. Then, as soon as it began, the wind calmed & the light vanished, Mulder ran to Scully turned her to face him. "Are you okay?" He asked, gently gripping her shoulders. "Yes." She said, as though she herself was surprised at what had just happened. "Mulder I' am okay, I've never felt better."

"Don't get used to that feeling, girly girl, because you won't have it for long." A chill ran down Scully's spine, she knew that voice… & that nick name, but it couldn't be… "You looked surprised to see me, Dana Scully." Donnie Phfaster said as he walked into the cave. "More revolted then surprised." She replied coldly as Mulder stepped defensively in front of her. "Out of my way, agent Mulder." Donnie said coolly as he sent Mulder crashing into the opposite cave wall with a mere flick of his wrist. "I'll see to him, you take care of Cerberus!" Angie said as she ran to Mulder's side & helped him to his feet. "You were always the one that got away, girly girl. Not this time, this time it ends now." He said as he clapped his hands together, huge shards of stalactite dislodged themselves from the ceiling & hurtled towards Scully at blinding speed, Scully casually waved her hand at them & they dropped to the ground. "You're going to have to do better then that." She said calmly as she used a spell to send the shards of rock back at him with twice the force, his defenses were not enough & he was blasted backward against the cave's walls. "She's stronger then I thought." Angie said as the cave shook violently & large chunks of the roof fell around them. "Don't worry about us; just do what you have to do!" Angie said as Scully formed a force field around them. "Your feelings of compassion make you weak." Donnie said, becoming a blur as he rushed in for a frontal attack.

"I'm sorry, Mulder; but I can't let you do this." Scully said as Mulder rushed forward to intervene, she threw up her hand & blocked him from getting any closer. "Scully, no!" Mulder yelled as he pounded desperately on the invisible barrier. "It ends now." Donnie said as he took her by the throat & pinned her against the cave wall, suddenly, Donnie made a gurgling sound as he spit up blood & fell backward onto the ground. Scully stood over him; she had used alchemy to make her nails into daggers, which she now pointed at his throat. "You always liked my nails, Donnie, it's very fitting that you're going to die by them." She said as he let out a final, gurgling gasp & fell limp. "I'm sorry to shut you out like that, Mulder; but I just couldn't bear to… to see you killed." Scully said as he ran up to her, he replied by pulling her into a long, passionate kiss. "You were amazing, truly amazing." He whispered into her ear. "You both were, you may feel useless, Mulder, but she couldn't have done it without you; you two are like a hammer & nails, man, can't get the best out of one without the other... but I'm guessing that you already knew _that_." Angie said with a smile.

Mulder & Scully awoke to the shouts of the mountain rescue team. "Are you two all right? Turner said as he helped them up. "Yeah… I think so." Mulder said as he & Scully looked at each other. "Come one, we've for a helicopter waiting to take you down the mountain." Turner replied. "I don't even know how we're going to make out a report for Skinner, I'm not sure that it even happened. We could have dreamed it while we were passed out for all we know." Scully said as she rubbed her forehead wearily. "What do you want to believe?" Mulder asked her. "I do, but that doesn't make it real." She said as she tapped her fingernails on their desk, but sound wasn't quite right. "Mulder, look at this." She said as she showed her nails to him, they had turned a metallic, silvery color & were hard as diamonds. "Well, at least you'll never have to worry about breaking a nail." Mulder replied dryly, Scully smiled in spite of herself.


End file.
